Knuckles the Echidna
"I'll probably be on this floating island forever, guarding the Master Emerald once again. I may not know the whole story behind this, but perhaps it's better that way." Knuckles the Echidna is a character from Sonic the Hedgehog series and a wrestler in VGCW. He is a former Casual Champion, holding the title for 35 days. He and Sonic the Hedgehog formed the aptly-named tag team of Sonic & Knuckles before splitting in season 12 and joining friend and fellow weightlifter Sabin Rene Figaro to form Final Fantasy 3 & Knuckles In the Sonic the Hedgehog Franchise The last surviving member of his clan, Knuckles the Echidna is a denizen of Angel Island, and the Guardian of the Chaos Emeralds, and the Master Emerald, which he has sworn his life to protecting from anyone planning to use it for the sake of evil. He first appeared in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, where he was tricked by Dr. Robotnik into thinking that Sonic was out to steal the Emeralds. He opposed Sonic and Tails throughout the game until he realized he'd been lied to, helping him out in stopping what ever evil scheme the doctor is up to ever since. Despite this, he's not very bright, often getting tricked by people into doing their work for them, even getting tricked by Eggman on multiple occasions, despite knowing fully well what he is like. In VGCW 'Season 5: Rougher Than the Rest of Them' Hearing about foes who thought they were tougher than the best of them, Knuckles packed up his Master Emerald, tossed on his fightin' shorts, and travelled from Angel Island to join the VGCW roster on July 31st. In his first fight, he went up against former Vamphound leader Geno in a Last Man Standing bout. The Guardian proved to be more than a match for the doll, as he repeatedly showed off why his name is "Knuckles" by busting open and knocking Geno out with one mighty punch for a count of ten. On September 7th, he confronted Nappa & Flint, thinking they were planning to "summon an evil dragon" that would eat the Master Emerald; of course, Eggman had put him up to it, pulling the wool over Knuckles' eyes yet again. As the two tried to convince him the dragon wasn't evil, Sonic the Hedgehog returned to the scene with a new look, asking Knuckles if Eggman had tricked him once again. Unluckily, Knuckles wasn't convinced, and when he tried to take Nappa and Flint's Dragon Balls, he got clobbered. He later tried again with Air Man's help, but again failed. When Air Man and Knuckles finally took a Dragon Ball, Proto Man was ripped apart to take it. This made Knuckles reconsider his alliance with The Practice. However, the evil doctors didn't like this, and had Air Man attempt to take out Knuckles. Sonic ran in just as Air Man was about to break Knuckles' leg. The guardian's pride was hurt, and he challenged Sonic to a match at End Game 5. Sonic didn't show ring rust during that match, and bested Knuckles. 'Season 6: Tougher than Leather' The duo soon formed the Co-Op team Sonic and Knuckles, and in their debut as a team during the Season 6 premiere, WarioWare Inc. was humilated by the duo in a match that only took around four minutes. The next broadcast, Knuckles competed in a 6-man elimination match for a Casual Championship title shot. Knuckles threw everything he had into the battle, winning after an epic battle, pinning Waluigi and then besting Ezio, who had won over the crowd with his new look. Though he was booed for beating Ezio, Knuckles didn't chuckle, He now had a date with Segata Sanshiro, with the Casual Championship in his sights. Proving he was always up for another round, Knuckles once again teamed up with Sonic to take on Shadaloo for the right to become the #1 Co-Op Contenders on the next show. While Knux got in a few shots along the way, it was Sonic who stole the show and earned the team another speedy victory to give Knuckles his second #1 Contenders spot in as many nights. His chances for a third title shot were dashed as he was an early entry to that same night's Royal Rumble, but two out of three chances to win VGCW gold ain't bad. With two title opportunities presented his way, Knuckles seemed confident he would be walking away with at least one title. On December 3rd, his first chance came against Segata Sanshiro for the Casual Championship. Both proud fighters put it all on the line with both scoring finishers on the other that would result in near falls, but it was Segata that would ground the guardian with a well-timed debut of a new finisher to earn the victory. Now it was up to taking down one of the toughest teams VGCW had to offer in Gamecenter FU on December 10th if Knuckles was to claim gold. The great teamwork that Sonic & Knuckles had displayed together in previous matches was nowhere to be seen on this night. Knux would constantly interject himself into the match at the wrong times, generally leaving Sonic to take the brunt of FU's attack. At the end, Knuckles was too slow to break up the pin on his partner, and the guardian walked away from his title matches with nothing to show for it. Seemingly learning nothing from his failures to win either title, he stopped chuckling and turned to trying to out-box former VGCW Champion Little Mac on January 7th. This backfired rather spectacularly, as the Knucklehead was outmatched and out-boxed, losing rather quickly after taking plenty of Star Punches (and a ladder) to the face. 'Season 7: Way to Go, Knucklehead' Knuckles' singles career would continue to suffer continuing into Season 7. On March 4th, Knuckles would fall to Barret after a huge toss. Despite his singles losses, his team with Sonic would give him a little hope by defeating the powerful DK Crew on March 11th, proving that they still have a point to prove in the Tag Team division. Another singles loss would follow on April 15th in a Fatal Four Way Tables match that Little Mac won by putting Bowser through a table. Looking to pick things up with his tag team, Knuckles tried his hand against The Practice and The Mystical Ninjas, which couldn't have gone worse. Knuckles chalked up two more losses to his record along with Sonic, wondering if this madness would ever end. However, the madness was only beginning... 'Season 8: The Chuckling Ends' On May 27th, Sonic and Proto Man faced off in an Extreme Rules match, with Sonic wanting payback for Proto Man's actions at End Game 7. However, two Proto Busters would be enough to drive the Hedgehog's hopes home. As the match concluded, a mysterious figure appeared on the stage. On that night, the VGCW universe played witness to the very beginnings of the M.A.S.T.E.R.P.L.A.N. in action. A roboticized Knuckles walked down from the stage, approaching the ring, and entering. Sonic had to go fast, and bolted from the ring, leaving Protoman to take an Emerald Cutter, which sent him sprawling on the mat. Brass Knuckles proved instrumental to The Practice's early plans, as he helped to capture and roboticize Zangief after he and Octodad were talking about their rematch. After Mecha-Zangief defeated Octodad in a match, Brass Knuckles and The Practice came to congratulate Mecha Zangief. From then on he served under The Practice's will, proving to be surprisingly efficient by helping Mecha Zangief take down The Dragons, coming from behind to defeat Red, and then defeating Mecha Zangief in an Extreme Rules bout. When story reached climax at End Game 8, Knuckles was freed from Roboticization by Chief Arino, who then proceeded to transform into a super version of himself and awaken Nightmare Gabe in the process. Long story short, Knuckles was freed. Season 9: The Casual Guardian After being freed, Knuckles made friends with Sabin. The two would often talk about hitting the gym and muscle gains, and argue who is stronger. The two clashed at the ring eventually, with Knuckles coming out from top. During the AVGN's farewell match, Sonic came out in his "classic" apperance and theme. Knuckles noticed that something was off, and asked Sonic and Sabin about what they thought it was. Paying it no mind and, in fact, seemingly insulted by it, the two brushed him off and told him to scram. Later, Knuckles was booked in Triple Threat #1 Casual Contenders match between Groose and M. Bison, and scored the victory. Knuckles would then face Casual Champion Dan Hibiki in a Tables match. With Sonic's encouragement, Knuckles won his first belt by suplexing Dan through a table, who missed a dropkick and taunted in that match. Even though Knuckles bested Dan in match, he was far outmatched in who is better talker. Dan easily provoked Knuckles, and goaded him into giving Dan a title shot. His strategy worked, and Knuckles gave Dan a contendership match between him and Ezio. Dan won that match, and faced Knuckles in a rematch at End Game 9. In the conversation before the match, Knuckles tried to find any tricks Dan was holding, but failed. In a stellar match, Dan would catch Knuckles off-guard with a roll-up and regain the belt. 'Season 10: Runback with Dan, Tag Team run' Furious about the result, Knuckles confronted Dan backstage and demanded a rematch. Dan claimed roll-up is a legitimate strategy and he won clean, but agreed to give him a Contenders match after GM's approval. Later, Knuckles was booked against Chief Arino in contenders match. At the finish, Knuckles would use gliding move, but Arino caught him at the perfect time, and used Last Continue as drown jingle from Sonic games played and ended with three count. Knuckles began to focus on tag team matches with Sonic, tackling Practice, Mystical Ninjas, and Barret & Flint with 2-1 record. Sonic & Knuckles were booked in Co-Op #1 Contenders match, but The Practice would steal their glory by beating them. Knuckles' final match in Season X was against Johnny Cage, who had teamed up with his friend Sabin. After a low blow, however, Cage pinned him for 3-count. At End Game X, Knuckles was seen giving advice to Sabin, who then won the VGCW Championship by spearing his rival Dan through the table. After his friend won the belt and Nightmare Gabe appeared, he and Sonic were seen backstage praying the Gabe away. Season 11: The Sunscreen Knuckles started off the new era of VGCW with a bang, taking up a spot in a ladder match to begin the first show of Season 11. Knuckles climbed to the top of the ladder and grabbed the briefcase to win, but little did the Echidna know that within that briefcase was the only bottle of sunscreen on the island. Before long, many eyes had set their sights on Knuckles (including Scorpion), but the first to get their shot at the Bruiser would be Duke Nukem. On 2015-08-11, Duke took on Knuckles in singles competition, and ended up besting him. Time will tell if Duke actually took Knuckles sunscreen or not. Behind the Kayfabe During one of the non-canon SuperNormalStep Training streams, Bazza mentioned in the chat that if Knuckles was possible to make in WWE '13 he would already be in VGCW. After someone in the chat linked him to a video showing that it was indeed possible, Bazza, true to his word, recreated the CAW and debuted him in the very next episode. In the eighth season of VGCW, Metal Madness, a roboticized Knuckles appeared and acted as an antagonist in the plot. The "Brass Knuckles'" robot design during this season comes from a story arc of the Archie comic series Sonic & Mega Man: Worlds Collide, a Mega Man and Sonic the Hedgehog crossover. In the story, Knuckles is transformed into "Knuckles Man" by Dr. Wily and Dr. Eggman, and fights against Sonic and Mega Man. His roboticized CAW during Metal Madness is based off of this design, though his name has been changed from "Knuckles Man" to "Brass Knuckles", and his serial number designation was changed from "EWN" to "AIN" in order to keep consistency among all the robot masters featured in Season 8's plot (barring Air Man). Non-Royal Rumble Record Gallery Knuckles vgcw.png|Knuckles before getting lewd. Knuckles ripped.jpg|Unlike Sonic he doesn't chuckle, he'd rather flex his muscles. Knuckles 2k14 vgcw.png|Knuckles before he stopped chuckling in 2K14 I WAS NOT PROGRAMMED TO CHUCKLE.png|Knuckles Man Casually.gif|Don't waste time to goof off, Dan Hibiki! 2K14NewKnucklehead.png|What Knuckles looked like before he got gains.